AU Tenaya is the prototype left to wander the Wastes. Dillon is the Venjix attack-bot. Ziggy can't help what he wants. What starts as a dangerous attraction spirals into something more. Diggy, slight Kenaya

He looked around the dark, empty Garage carefully; making sure everyone was actually asleep in their own rooms before he stepped out onto the catwalk. Scott was going to kill him. He slipped across the catwalk to Tenaya's room. Quickly, he checked the door and was unsurprised to find it locked. He squatted down in front of the door, pulling out his tools to unlock it. He could hear Tenaya moving in the room now, approaching the door.

"Ziggy?" she called.

"Here." He replied, still fiddling with the lock. It took another few seconds of anxious silence before the lock clicked open. Grinning, he stood up and opened the door to see Tenaya standing impatiently on the other side. Although she tried to look grateful for the help, dark fury still glowed in the back of her eyes. He couldn't blame her for the dark look she was directing at the room at large. After finally, finally, getting some clue to find out more about her past, the team had locked at her up while they tried to figure out how to help her and keep the city safe at the same time.

It hadn't even been very much of a clue. Just a little tune the twins had been singing as they worked that sounded familiar to her. But that mere familiarity had unlocked a whole pile of information from the twins; they had once been in a Venjix working facility where they had been placed in a cell next to a man who had a family heirloom that played that song.

"He used to play it-"

"For us before we went to sleep." The twins remembered with fond, but still creepy, smiles. "He said he had a sister." Gemma added after a moment of thought.

"He thought she had been taken to a different facility." Gem added.

Tenaya had been ecstatic about the news and eager to go to the facility. Scott, however, had learned to be more cautious after the mess that had been Kenmore. Summer had had the final word in the heated argument by managing to sedate Tenaya. The hybrid had woken up several hours later, locked in her room, drowsy but furious. Ziggy hadn't been able to do anything, half agreeing with Scott that they needed a plan instead of just going charging in, half siding with Tenaya because it was her brother.

Tenaya had, of course, won out.

"Here." He said, pulling the keys to Tenaya's black Ferrari out of his pocket. Tenaya gave him a startled look, making him grin abashedly. "I pick pocketed Scott." He admitted.

A wicked grin spread across Tenaya's lips in reply. "Check the rest of the Garage. I'll make sure they didn't touch my car." She ordered, snatching her keys. Ziggy nodded and raced down that stairs, making sure the Garage was really as empty as it had first appeared. Once he was sure that everyone was asleep and K wasn't hiding in the shadows as she sometimes did, he headed back over to Tenaya. Tenaya had shut the hood after checking over the engine a minute ago and was now sitting in the driver's seat. She was holding a small piece of paper in her hand, her eyes misty. Ziggy carefully slid into the passenger's seat. Tenaya's expression was open to the world, leaving her looking, for once, her proper age of only nineteen. Ziggy wasn't used to seeing her look so… vulnerable. It scared him.

"Tenaya?" He asked uncertainly, laying a careful hand on her arm. For a moment, she was silent. Then she looked over at him, her eyes glinting wetly in the dim light.

"I'm alright." She said finally. She carefully slipped the piece of paper into her pocket and started the car. "Let's go." She ordered. Despite his sudden unease, he obediently buckled up so they could drive out of the Garage and into the night.

-0-0-

Blue eyes watched the black Ferrari drive smoothly out of the building. Doctor K continued to watch the security feed long after her two Rangers had left, shoulders hunched under the weight of her decision. There was no taking it back now. Tenaya was already gone and besides, K didn't have a car to catch her in.

She turned away, trying to shove the guilt away. She hadn't drawn the line; the team had drawn that line when they'd locked Tenaya in her room. The team had drawn the line when they'd taken the spark plugs from Tenaya's car and entrusted them to her….

No, she'd just stepped up to that line when she'd replaced the plugs and let Tenaya drive off.

From now on, the team would assume that if they had to drawn that line again, K would fall on Tenaya's side, no matter how illogical the decision. She feared they would be right.

She curled up in her chair, huddled actually, and thought of the note she'd carefully placed on the dash for Tenaya.

'In the dash is a flash drive. It's my excuse for letting you leave. Focus on finding your brother but don't leave that compound without information on Venjix. Good luck.'

K sat there for a long time, allowing herself the self-doubt and self-pity she couldn't show outside this tiny room sealed away from the rest of the building. Then, slowly, she unfolded and walked out into her lab where she carefully arranged herself in front of her computers and silently awaited the fury of the team when they awoke.

-0-0-

Tenaya carefully ran her fingers over the smooth metal of the watch she'd found at the Venjix outpost. There was a little opening at the top where she thought the key she had always had would go, but it just spun around. It had been the only answer she'd found. It wasn't much; it was barely anything at all. It was all she had. She was getting fucking tired of running down dead ends. Her heart couldn't handle it much longer.

There had been another result, of course. The trip had managed to warn them of Venjix's next big attack; giving them enough to mount a counter-attack and stop it, even turn the weapon onto their side.

A weapon wasn't her brother.

She checked the clock and stood up from her bed. It was almost time but she had something she had to do first. She walked towards the lab, reaching into her pocket to finger the worn corner of the folded note that still rested there. She had spent the last few days playing with it, constantly unfolding it to read it. It was a small hope, a wonderful, bright hope but a small one. A small hope was sometimes enough. She had stared at it so much these past few days that the words were ingrained in her head. The ones written and the ones left unsaid. She could see the apology written in every line, the plea for forgiveness.

Tenaya marched towards K's desk, ignoring the younger woman's surprised stare, and settled the note gently on the table. Only then did she slowly raise her head to look into those blue eyes. "Thank you." She whispered; it sounded more like I forgive you, like a billion other things neither of them was ready to say or hear yet, let alone accept.

Those eyes turned glossy and over-bright. "Of course." Came the quiet answer. K seemed like she didn't know what to do with herself; it was a feeling Tenaya shared. Things had been too tense between them for this to be anything but awkward. It felt like it should be different though. Tenaya hadn't been expecting it to be a big deal, hadn't expected for the room to suddenly brighten or the world to quake but it shouldn't be so… weird. Things were supposed to get easier now; this ache in her chest was supposed to go away now.

However, she had no more to give and still more to do. So she stepped back and away, gave a quick nod, and squashed the feeling that she was walking out of something she couldn't step back into. K pressed her lips together before saying. "So, tomorrow, right?"

"Tomorrow?"

"For training, remember?" K explained, looking at her with remarkable fragility. Tenaya was pretty -completely- sure that she wasn't scheduled for training tomorrow.

She smiled and nodded. "Of course."

-0-0-

This was a bad idea. This was a very bad idea. Tenaya was going to regret this soon, she could already tell. Not that she had a choice. She'd been backed into this position. She had nowhere else to turn for information. Dear lord, that was a sad, scary thought. She watched the families playing noisily around the park, her heart in her throat. She didn't look over when someone sat down next to her, keeping her head steadfastly turned away.

"Let me make this straight." Dillon told her, his gaze heavy and affronted on the side of her face. "Getting that virus code, that was for Ziggy. Not you."

"I know."

Dillon nodded, finally turning to look at the rest of the park. "So, why did you have Ziggy tell me to come?"

"I want to make a deal." She said after a long pause. There it was. No more taking it back. No more walking away. This was such a bad idea.

Dillon actually threw his head back and laughed. She spun her head around to glare at him, finding nothing even vaguely funny about the situation she'd been forced into. Dillon turned to her with a vicious smirk. "What do you have that I could possibly want?"

"Ziggy."

That shut him up quickly. The laughing humor in his voice immediately deepened into a dark, angry snarl. The look in his eyes gave her the feeling that he was resisting the urge to fray her alive. Something dark and vicious was building in the back of those eyes, something quite willing to tear her apart. "What exactly," Dillon growled, voice enraged and very, very possessive. "Makes you think you can keep him from me?"

Tenaya gulped, true fear spiking in her. There it was: the brutal temper she'd only glimpsed before now, the temper that had allowed him to demand Ziggy's safety from Venjix and get away with it. Oh, this was turning out to be a horrific idea. Still, she lifted her chin and looked him in the eye, fighting not to shrink away from the monster she could see lurking in the back of his eyes, the leash keeping it at bay very short. A monster she was about to hand Ziggy over to. "You can only sneak him away for a few minutes at a time." She told him. "I can get you more. I can get you hours."

The rage eased a little as Dillon realized she wasn't planning on keeping Ziggy away. Wary unease replaced the anger; just beneath that, barely noticeable, the slightest flicker of consideration. "And what do I have to give you in return?" He asked, begrudgingly acceptant.

"I have a brother." She told him. "I don't know his name, or what happened to him, but I have one. I want to know more. You get that, I get you a whole night with Zig. It's a good deal."

"What makes you think I won't just kidnap him when I know I have all that time?" Dillon asked, smirk slipping back into place, all cocky arrogance again. His eyes though, those retained their careful wariness.

"If you were going to take him, you already would have." She replied. "My guess is, you don't trust the other machines not to kill him while you're out on assignment."

He continued to watch her for a few moments, weighing, judging. Finally, he stood up and up and shoved his hands into his pockets, watching the other families as she once had. "One week, I'll have what you want." He agreed. "But I'm only going as far as I can without risking getting caught; you're not Ziggy, you don't get more than that."

Tenaya nodded in acknowledgment, not saying that it was more than she had expected. She had expected rejection; as he'd said, she wasn't Ziggy. She made a move to stand up when Dillon looked at her over his shoulder, gaze cutting and dangerously ruthless. "You betray me," he said, voice coldly malicious, "I go after the little bitch doctor."

She froze, barely able to breathe beneath the fear that crashed through her. She was suddenly very glad she hadn't actually stood before he'd said that, her legs were shaking far too badly for her to support herself. She closed her eyes, mentally shaking away the image of a severely beaten K from her mind, and tried to find the bravado that she had walked into this conversation with. She had thought she was scared before. That had nothing on this. Nothing at all. "Ziggy suggested the deal." She finally managed to tell him, opening her eyes to attempt to glare at him. Dillon's eyes looked pleased with her reaction. "And Ziggy's family. What do you think Ziggy will do to you if you hurt me?"

His expression turned only mildly curious. Obviously, he hadn't been spending as much time with Ziggy as she'd thought. Tenaya pushed herself to her feet and met his eyes, taking courage in the memory of the terror Ziggy had put K through those first two weeks after they'd found out about Venjix. "Dillon, that boy may not be very strong but he can be creative when he's vicious."

Dillon actually blanched at that. His expression was still disbelieving, but the wariness was back. That was getting somewhere. "So, we're agreed?" he said, now slightly apprehensive. She nodded briefly and walked away.

-0-0-

Dillon watched as the Black Ranger's trademark Ferrari turned the corner and coasted to a stop in front of the building where he'd arranged to meet Ziggy. He hadn't been able to find out much about the girl's brother. For some reason, most of the files regarding the frustrating young woman were corrupted, like someone had tried to delete them before realizing that would seem suspicious and destroying bits of the code for them instead. He had managed to find select bits of information in the file, managed to track their progress from one Venjix worker outpost to the next until they'd been separated and then brought individually to the Palace for hybrid experimentation. Those files had been too closely watched for him to even dare try and look at, so he had cut the search off there.

Not that he'd hadn't gotten a lot already. Real names, and damn had he had to do a lot of digging to find those, ages, birthplace, as well as assorted body measurements, and thousands of little useless things that had somehow qualified them as hybrid candidates. Daniel and Amara Kane, 23 and 19 respectively, originally from Lawrence, Kansas, last known place of residence before the war being some small town in Maine he doubted anyone outside of it had ever heard of.

The whole thing had actually spiked his curiosity on why a failed, escaped hybrid the whole army was aware of deserved to have her files so closely watched. Not curious enough to risk his neck by looking at them of course, but enough to urge him to dig deeper in the corrupted files than he would have otherwise. As far as he was concerned now, he had done more than enough work to earn this reward.

He watched as Ziggy struggled to get the seat belt off before the car had even made a complete stop, propelling himself out of the vehicle and all but launching himself at Dillon. Dillon grinned as his arms automatically wrapped around Ziggy's waist, not budging an inch as the full force of Ziggy's honestly meager 115 pounds collided against him as fast as the younger man could manage. He leaned down to catch Ziggy's lips in a thorough kiss, not worried about Tenaya leaning against the side of her car with a huff of annoyance and slight amusement.

After a long moment, he pulled back, unable to stop the grin that slipped across his face at how flushed Ziggy looked and how heavily Ziggy was panting. Ziggy grinned up at him. "You brought something for her, right?" Ziggy asked.

He looked over Ziggy's shoulder at Tenaya and nudged his head in the direction he'd left a bag with the files he'd found in it. "Over there." He told her before turning his attention back to the very inviting lips in front of him. Ziggy certainly didn't complain. Dillon ran his hands up Ziggy's back, slipped under his jacket and shirt, trailing careful fingers along the line of Ziggy's spine. The young man in his arms shuddered with a low, surprised moan, as if he hadn't expected his back to be quite so sensitive; in response, Ziggy's tongue sneaked out to lick playfully at his lips. Dillon growled, more mischievous than anything, and followed after that teasing tongue, biting down gently on Ziggy's lips.

"Uh, guys, tone down the PDA, would you?" Tenaya demanded, walking back towards them, bag already thrown over her shoulder.

Dillon pulled back, too oddly content with Ziggy in his arms to give her more than a half-hearted glare. "What's PDA?" he muttered to Ziggy, who was completely ignoring Tenaya and eagerly pressing warm, open-mouthed kisses along his throat. "Public Displays of Affection." Ziggy replied distractedly, humming in appreciation as Dillon continued to slowly stroke his back.

"I give up on you two." Tenaya muttered, shaking her head and heading towards her car. "I'll be back for him an hour before sunrise!" she shouted, not that either of them gave her any attention.

Once the Ferrari had driven away, Dillon slowly disengaged from Ziggy. "Come on." He breathed over Ziggy's groan of disappointment, "there's something I want you to see." Ziggy followed him obediently, although he did spend the whole walk attempting to swallow Dillon's tongue. Dillon chuckled as he eased open the door into the building and headed for the elevator.

Whoever had built Corinth had been smart, had built more buildings than they'd need for years to come so the population could expand greatly without worrying about room. That left buildings with entire floors abandoned for him to use as he wished. And he wished to use them. He pressed Ziggy against the wall of the elevator as they ascended, biting along Ziggy's neck and enjoying the soft mewing sounds tumbling out of the younger man's mouth. There were so many delicious things he wanted to do to the boy in his arms but he knew he'd only be able to do a few; that Ziggy would probably only be able to handle coming two or three times tonight before passing out, exhausted but content. So he had decided to do the one thing he truly needed to do instead of just wanted; to learn every inch of Ziggy's body, slow and easy, until Ziggy was crying for him to take him.

The door opened with a low bing, allowing Dillon to pull Ziggy from the wall and lead him towards the room that had been prepared for tonight. Ziggy froze when he entered the room, staring around in wide-eyed amazement. Dillon grinned at the look as Ziggy slowly pulled away from him to approach the wide windows along one wall that provided one of the better views of the city. He slipped up behind him to wrap his arms around Ziggy's waist, pushing his thumb beneath the edge of Ziggy's pants to rub slow circles on the skin of his hip. "Do you like it?" he asked softly.

"This is all very… romantic." Ziggy replied, sounding surprised and incredulous. Dillon chuckled softly and gently bit at the juncture of Ziggy's neck and shoulder. "I try." He replied calmly and slowly pulled the younger man to the nest of blankets and pillows he'd set up. Ziggy's jacket hit the floor on the way, ignored by both as Dillon ran his fingers over the curve of his neck and down his spine. Ziggy shivered against him, pressing an eager kiss to his lips as they tumbled down.

Ziggy moaned as Dillon settled above him, the heavy, warm weight of his body pressing him against the pillows. Dillon didn't wait to pull Ziggy's shirt off, immediately moving to trail his fingers over his ribs, leaving bands of heat across his abdomen. Ziggy arched up, his own hands trying to return the favor and strip Dillon of his shirt but Dillon gently grasped his hands and pulled them away. Trying not to whine in disappointment, he pulled away enough to give Dillon a put off look. Dillon smiled at him gently and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "We're doing this my way." He whispered against Ziggy's lips before leaning down to press slow kisses across his chest. Ziggy sighed pleasurably, letting his head fall back as Dillon slowly sucked and bit bruises across his chest.

Grinning at the soft, breathy sounds escaping Ziggy's kiss-bruised lips, Dillon leaned further down until he could easily pull one of Ziggy's nipples into his mouth. Ziggy actually whimpered as Dillon played with the small nub, rolling it between his teeth until it was red and hard. He pulled back and breathed slowly over the wet skin, enjoying the shudder Ziggy made. "Dillon…" Ziggy breathed, tugging at his hair briefly so he could drag him upwards into a deep kiss. When Ziggy's hands reached for his shirt again, Dillon let him pull it off.

Ziggy's hands eagerly explored the hard muscles revealed to him, causing Dillon to hiss softly in appreciation. Dillon's lips sealed over Ziggy's other nipple to bestow it the same treatment, pulling a loud moan from the trembling body beneath him. Ziggy arched up again, digging his nails into the skin of Dillon's back.

Eventually Dillon pulled Ziggy's pants off. By the time he did so, Ziggy was a panting, whimpering mess, cock hard and aching. He went wild at the first touch of Dillon's hand on his cock, slamming their mouths together with a desperate passion. A needy sound slipped past his lips when Dillon merely chuckled and, after a few slow, torturous pumps, let go to massage the tight ring of muscle around his opening with one finger.

One pale hand reached between them to tug urgently at Dillon's jeans, palm brushing against the warm bulge within. Dillon groaned, low and filthy, as Ziggy looked up at him with half-lidded eyes. "Hurry up." Ziggy muttered, commanding but desperate. Dillon huffed agreement, one hand moving to unbury the oil now hidden beneath the pillows as Ziggy fumbled with his jeans. He froze, fingers just brushing the oil bottle, when Ziggy's clever hands slipped inside his jeans to grasp his own length. His eyes fluttered shut as those long fingers sent shivers up his spine, painting circles across his skin. "Fuck." He breathed.

He finally grabbed the bottle and pulled back to look Ziggy in the eye. Ziggy's eyes had nearly been swallowed by his pupils and his face was flushed a deep red. His lips were bruised and bitten, half-open and very inviting. Dillon groaned softly, leaning down to greedily devour those lips as he coated his fingers in the oil. Ziggy gasped slightly when Dillon carefully eased one finger inside him then settled again, happily chasing his tongue. However, Ziggy drew back when Dillon pressed a second finger in, hissing and digging his nails into the back of Dillon's neck. He ignored the sharp bite of pain in his neck and moved his kisses down Ziggy's body slowly, leaving trails of heat across Ziggy's chest. Eventually Ziggy relaxed, fingers easing back from his neck to rub slowly down his back.

Dillon smiled against Ziggy's skin but didn't immediately push in a third finger. Instead, he slid down Ziggy's body and took him in his mouth. Ziggy gave a sharp cry, his back bowing as Dillon sealed his lips around Ziggy's cock. Soft moans slipped past Ziggy's lips as he fell back down and tangled his fingers desperately in Dillon's hair. "Please, Dillon…" Ziggy breathed, letting out a sharp gasp as Dillon's tongue circled in tip of his cock.

He waited until Ziggy could focus on nothing more than Dillon's tongue against him before carefully slipping a third finger inside the younger man. Ziggy squirmed briefly but otherwise gave no sign of consciously realizing that three of Dillon's fingers were now urging his body open. Ziggy gasped repeatedly, trying to suck in air that never seemed to be enough. After a few more moments, Dillon pulled off slowly, ripping a low, obscene sound from Ziggy's throat that sent a shudder through him.

Another delicious whimper fell from Ziggy's lips when Dillon also pulled out his fingers, looking up at him with eyes gone black. Dillon smiled slightly in response, leaning down to chase Ziggy's tongue again as he quickly coated his length in the oil. Once he was sure he was ready, he slowly pushed in. Every muscle in Ziggy's body went tense, shaking slightly with the effort of staying still as Dillon carefully moved until he was all the way inside. Ziggy pulled back from the kiss to bite down harshly on his lower lip. He didn't make a sound. Dillon kept as still as he could, pressing gentle kisses against the taunt skin of Ziggy's neck.

Finally, muscle by muscle, Ziggy relaxed. "Alright?" Dillon asked softly. Ziggy nodded, tugging briefly at his hair to pull him up for a kiss. Dillon pulled out slowly, back slamming back in, pulling identical groans from both of them. Ziggy moaned, the last of the pain vanishing as Dillon pumped inside him, and lifted his legs to wrap around Dillon's waist. The pace increased steadily, every thrust pulling a soft cry from Ziggy's lips as Dillon hit something inside him that made the room go white. Ziggy's nails were biting into Dillon's neck again but the older man didn't even notice, too caught up in how warm and tight Ziggy felt around.

They chased each other to the edge, bodies taunt with the pleasure of it, each eager to tumble over the edge into the bliss. Dillon's hands moves quickly across the younger man's body, once again finding all the places that made Ziggy moan. Ziggy gave a gasp that ended in a short, loud scream as he came. As the younger man shuddered around him, Dillon breathed out Ziggy's name brokenly, his own orgasm ripping out of him.

When the world finally settled back into focus, Dillon carefully slid out of the younger man then tumbled down to lay next him, panting softly. After a long moment, Ziggy moved so he lay sprawled across Dillon's chest comfortably. In response, Dillon draped one arm across his back. "I hope you know this." Ziggy breathed against Dillon's neck. "You are fucking amazing."

Dillon grinned at the complement. "You're not so bad yourself."

Ziggy hid his grin against Dillon's skin. After a few minutes, he felt sleep slowly drag his eyelids down. "Dillon?" he asked, voice too close and too fond. It somehow put Dillon's heart in his throat. "Can I keep you?"

Dillon froze under the younger man, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling as he struggled to find words. But it didn't matter, because when he finally dragged his gaze down towards Ziggy, the Ranger was already asleep.

After about two and a half hours, Dillon became aware that the younger man had woken up again when Ziggy started pressing warm, open-mouthed kisses across his neck. Dillon glanced down at him. "Hey. What are you doing?" he asked quietly.

Ziggy looked up at him, eyes darkly mischievous. Dillon felt himself swell at that look. "Can we do it again?" Ziggy asked, painting the words against his neck. Dillon grinned and rolled over so that he was once again pinning Ziggy down. "We have all night." He agreed, sliding inside the younger man's body again. Ziggy gave a soft moan, arching against him.

"You already have me." Dillon breathed quietly, watching as Ziggy's eyes went wide before the physical pleasure overtook him. Yet Dillon doubted the smile that bloomed across his face had anything to do with sex.

-0-0-

"Alright." Dr. K said, finally turning to look at the woman who had kept her occupied all night. "I do suppose the candy and movies are a reward for something, yes?"

"Nonsense." Tenaya said with a grin. "I'm the reward. Everything else is just a bonus."

K nodded. "Yes, I suppose so. Well, if you're going to lavish me with your sarcastic attentions, at least tell me what I have done to earn it."

Tenaya laughed softly at the banter before carefully taking her hand. "You're doing it now." She breathed. K arched an eyebrow, making Tenaya grin and press a kiss against her knuckles. "You're ignoring the fact that Ziggy Grover is not in his room tonight and will not be until sunrise. You are not going to ask questions and you are not going to tell the team."

K narrowed her eyes, watching Tenaya carefully. Finally she nodded. "If anything goes wrong, I'm blaming you." She said calmly. She didn't think before she leaned against Tenaya's side, resting her head there. Tenaya paused for a moment, then continued as if nothing new had happened.

-0-0-

Venjix watched as one of its oldest generals slowly entered the throne room. It was damaged. That could be fixed. The arrogance that had wormed itself into its programming was a flaw that could not be. No matter. It was loyal; that was more than could be said for his current front-line general. Where was the boy? Fraternizing with the enemy no doubt.

He had had such hope for Dillon. None of it had gotten him anything.

"Kilobot. It pleases me that you have returned."

"I am glad to have found my way back, Lord Venjix."

"You have returned in good time. I have a task for you. There is a boy in Corinth who is causing me trouble. I wish him gone." He paused before adding. "Make sure Dillon sees him die."

"As you wish, Lord Venjix."

-0-0-

Tenaya slowly entered Ziggy's room the next morning, nearly the afternoon, and stared at the boy laying on the bed. He was staring at the far wall with an almost stupid grin, fiddling with the chain necklace he always wore. "You're actually awake." She said, surprised. She hadn't expected him to be up for a few more hours at least. Ziggy had been all but asleep on his feet when she'd picked him up at sunrise; Dillon had been horribly smug about it all.

Ziggy's eyes swung towards her. "I'm up." He paused for a minute before adding. "I'm not moving yet. I'm a little achy." He shifted uncomfortably on the bed to emphasis.

Tenaya made a face she hoped properly displayed how much she did not need to know that. "Thanks. I really needed that mental image." She drawled, making Ziggy laugh.

"No problem, 'Aya."

Tenaya rolled her eyes at his blasé tone, chuckling under her breath. When she glanced back at Ziggy, he was looking at her with consideration. "Was the information good?" he asked quietly.

"I know my name." she answered. She hadn't meant for it to come out so soft, so vulnerable. But she could see Ziggy's eyes soften in understanding. He did understand which was more than she'd expected from anyone. "Though honestly," she added, because she still wasn't good about the talking and the feelings. "I think Tenaya's grown on me."

"I prefer it to." Ziggy agreed.

She offered him a small smile and turned to walk away. She paused a step out the door and looked back at Ziggy and the too big grin that made him look even more like an idiot than he normally did. "Ziggy," she called, making that bright brown gaze swing towards her again. "When you do head downstairs, try to look like you didn't just get laid."

Ziggy blinked at her for a minute before that stupid smile returned. "Sure thing." He replied. Tenaya sighed heavily but left the Green Ranger's room.

Two hours later, Tenaya really wasn't surprised to see Ziggy slowly coming down with his silly grin. She shook her head and went into the kitchen. She wasn't hiding there. She wasn't. She just really didn't want to have to deal with the others when they puzzled out Ziggy's attitude. The person who had helped him slip out would be obvious after a moment of thought. And she definitely wasn't spying on them from the kitchen doorway. She was just… observing.

After half an hour, Summer walked in, giggling softly to herself. Tenaya had since abandoned her post near the entryway and had taken a seat at the counter, munching on a few pieces of apple. Tenaya raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you playing pool with Ziggy?"

"I was." Summer replied, her grin full of good humor. "And every few minutes he stops grinning like a loon and remembers what he's supposed to be doing with the pole in his hands." Tenaya groaned and hid her face in her hands, making Summer laugh. "What? I think he's adorable when he's in love."

Summer didn't notice, but her words made every muscle in Tenaya's body tense. She quickly stood up from her chair and walked back to the entryway, finding Ziggy standing near the pool table, staring down at the balls with a grin that had nothing to do with playing pool. She took a second, very close look at that smile and agreed with Summer. That was not a 'just got laid' smile. That was a 'sickeningly in love' smile.

Well, shit.

"Summer, I need to steal your pool partner for a moment." She called, already walking towards the table. Summer made some sound of acknowledgment behind her. Tenaya reached out and jerked the pool cue from Ziggy's hands before grabbing his elbow and leading him outside. He blinked horribly wide brown eyes at her as she dragged him along. "Tenaya?" he asked in confusion.

Once they were safely outside, she stopped and gripped his shoulders. "Do you love him?" she demanded, holding his gaze intently. Ziggy blinked at her, beyond startled. Then, slowly, she watched as a blush crept its way up his neck.

"What?" he asked, but his eyes said he understood perfectly.

"Dillon." She said shortly. "Do you love him?"

"I… uh…" Ziggy gulped and looked at her with panicked eyes. "I might have, um," The dark glare she pinned him with ordered him to finish the thought. "I might have asked if I could keep him." Ziggy finally said, finally acknowledging that there was no way to get out of telling her. "And he might have said yes."

Tenaya stared at him, her grip on his shoulders going slack in shock. When all she did was just stare at him for several long moments, he reached up and gently poked her shoulder. "Please tell me I didn't just break you." He begged. "K will kill me if I broke you."

Tenaya grew back from him, drawing already weary hands down her face. "You are a fucking moron." She said with more calm than the situation probably warranted. "Did you even think before you opened your mouth?"

"Nope." He chirped, obviously taking heart in the fact that she hadn't started yelling yet. "Afterglow does that."

Tenaya stopped and gaped at him. Before she could muster an answer to that, the sirens went off. She sighed and glared at the young man before her. "Get in the car." She ordered. "We're going to talk about this later." He nodded and dashed inside.

-0-0-

Dillon wasn't there.

That was the first, horrified thought that crossed Tenaya's mind when she stepped onto the battlefield. Dillon wasn't there. That couldn't be good. In his stead was some new general she had never seen before. But the mere sight of him put a shiver down her spine. That fact that there wasn't an actual attack-bot in sight was just an added bonus to the collected weirdness of this situation. She touched Ziggy's wrist quickly to get his attention. "Stay near me." She ordered. "I don't like this."

"Where is he?" Ziggy asked, voice stricken. She just shook her head and reached for her morpher.

That was right when everything turned to chaos.

There were suddenly Grinders everywhere. They never even got the chance to morph. It didn't take long before they were all separated from each other. She really didn't like Ziggy not being at her back, not when Dillon wasn't here to watch his. It she hadn't been surrounded, it would have been rather funny, how she now so easily trusted Dillon with the boy's safety. She wondered when she was going to have to pay for that trust.

Then that thing, the general, turned to where she could just barely make out a flicker of green. Her stomach dropped. "Ziggy!" she shouted, starting to just shove Grinders out of his way to get to Ziggy instead of breaking them apart.

There was a sudden blur of black and purple headed straight for her friend. Then everything exploded.

"ZIGGY!"

-0-0-

Ziggy slowly opened his eyes back up as the ringing in his ears started to disappear. For a long moment, everything was blobs of color. Then, finally, her eyes focused on the small rust-colored key dangling just above his face. He blinked up at it, struggling to place why it looked so familiar. Oh yeah. Tenaya had one just like it. She was always wearing it, hiding it beneath her shirt. He smiled weakly, reaching up to wrap it in his hand.

The hand that covered his was much too big to be Tenaya's.

The eyes that swam into focus next were dark brown and so achingly familiar. Then the face. Suddenly, Ziggy was staring up at Dillon, straight into the panicked brown eyes. Except, Ziggy kept seeing Tenaya; her brown eyes layered over Dillon's, exactly the same; her smirk, so much like Dillon's.

"Ziggy?" Dillon asked, his voice finally emerging from the ruckus of sound filling his ears.

"I'm alright." He managed to mumble out. Dillon's face slackened with relief; he pulled Ziggy up, holding him tightly to his chest. Ziggy coughed, then muttered that he couldn't breathe, making Dillon's grip lessen just a little.

"Ziggy!"

That was Tenaya's voice. He pushed away slightly to see her taking out the last few Grinders standing between her and them. The rest of the team was doing the same. She slowed when she saw Dillon clutching him to his chest. Dillon stared at her for a long moment then helped him to his feet and shoved him at her. Ziggy yelped but quickly found his footing, turning to stare at Dillon. There was nothing comforting in those brown eyes now.

Dillon turned away from them to face the new general and snarled. "We had a deal." Dillon hissed, stalking closer. The machine didn't even get a chance to respond before Dillon attacked. It hesitated, probably in surprise, and that brief hesitation was all Dillon needed to rip it apart.

"Um…" Scott muttered, coming up to stand next to him. "Is he on our side now?" He sounded so very confused.

"He's on someone's." Tenaya whispered, one hand on his shoulder to support him.

Ziggy smiled, too wide and too ridiculously fond for his own good as Dillon pulled off its head and threw it to the side before stalking towards them. He stepped away from the group minutely, ignoring them as they all tensed. Dillon's eyes met his, dark and breath-takingly intense. Just as Scott opened his mouth to say something, Dillon reached forward, tangled his hands in Ziggy's jacket and tugged him into a passionate kiss, just edging into desperate. "Mine." Dillon breathed against his lips. Ziggy thought he made some sound of agreement, but the kiss was doing amazing things to his head so he wasn't sure.

Finally, Dillon pulled back, allowing him to breathe. Ziggy sighed, resting his head against Dillon's shoulder and trying to ignore the minor aches throughout his body. Behind him, he could hear Scott finally breaking the silence. "Wait, I'm confused. Aren't we supposed to be fighting each other? Why are they making out? Who's the enemy again?"

Dillon chuckled next to his ear, a sudden, perfect match to the sound Tenaya made. Dillon pulled back, pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead. "I have a present to deliver to Venjix." He breathed against Ziggy's skin before turning away to pick up the general's head. He gave them a jaunty wave over his shoulder as he walked away.

Ziggy turned to look at the rest of his team and winced when he saw the look on Scott's face. "Um… I can explain?"

-0-0-

Honestly, it took him so long to put together because Scott almost immediately started yelling at him. The explosion had rattled his brain enough that he hadn't immediately registered what that key meant but Scott was the one who had distracted him enough that it took him almost an hour for the pieces to fall into place. But when it eventually did, he sat bolt upright from where he'd been ordered to rest on the couch and stared across the Garage at Tenaya.

Maybe, if it had just been the key, he could have written it off. But it wasn't just the key. There was, if one looked for it, a certain resemblance between Dillon and Tenaya: the same brown eyes and dark brown hair, the same smirk and chuckle, the same sharp wit and gruff charm. It was a familial resemblance. Almost like siblings.

Like a brother.

Huh. Well, fuck.

Really, Ziggy only had one option if he wished the team to continue to believe in his mental sanity. He pick-pocketed Tenaya. Once the watch she always carried around was safely in his possession, he slipped out of the Garage. He stood outside for a minute before he headed for the building Dillon and he had had sex in only a day ago. He didn't go inside, merely sat next to the door and waited for Dillon to appear.

As always, he did.

The minute the older man appeared, Ziggy shot up and stormed over to him. "Why do you have it?" he demanded, chasing the content expression off Dillon's face.

"What?"

"That key. Why do you have it?" he said shortly, snapping his hand out to grab the chain around Dillon's neck. The older man's hand sealed over his wrist, preventing him from lifting the necklace from beneath his shirt. Ziggy took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "You didn't have this the other night. Why do you have it now?"

Dillon's expression was torn when he meet the older man's eyes. Dillon didn't remove his grip on Ziggy's wrist. "It's important… to me." He finally said, that odd note in his voice that was always in Tenaya's whenever she thought of her past. Ziggy gulped, understanding. He couldn't trust Dillon with anyone in Corinth but himself; Dillon couldn't trust him with the knowledge of this key. He doubted even Venjix knew about it. He pulled Tenaya's watch from his pocket. "Do you recognize this?" he asked softly.

Dillon's eyes focused on it, an odd look crossing his face briefly. "No." he eventually said, shaking his head minutely.

Ziggy sighed and tugged carefully on the chain around Dillon's neck. "Let me." He breathed. Dillon paled, just a little, but slowly, finger by finger, eased his hand away from Ziggy's wrist. The younger man smiled gently at Dillon and pulled the key out from beneath Dillon's shirt. Carefully slipping the key into the hole at the top, he wound it then let it play. Dillon's eyes turned misty as the song swept over them, no longer looking at him.

Ziggy shuddered as the truth set in. He'd found Tenaya's brother.

Dillon's hand slid under his to hold the watch. "What is this?" he asked.

"It's Tenaya's." he breathed. "It belongs to her brother."

Dillon jerked away from him, watching him with wide eyes. "No." he denied, shaking his head. "No, that's not possible."

"Why not?" he asked quietly.

Before Dillon could reply, a familiar black Ferrari drove up. Ziggy sighed and closed his eyes. Tenaya stalked towards him, a sharp scowl on her face. "What are you doing?" she demanded. "You couldn't have just stayed put until Scott had calmed down a little? I know you're kind of sickeningly in love right… now…" she trailed, finally noticing how Dillon was staring at her with wide, panicked eyes. "What?" she asked defensively. She glanced back at Ziggy. "What's going on?"

"I found your brother." He said. Tenaya visibly brightened until Ziggy pointedly slid his eyes towards Dillon. A confused expression slipped across her face as she followed his gaze. Her eyes landed on the key hanging from Dillon's neck. "You have got to be kidding me." She breathed but one hand slowly drifted up to the chain that held her own.

The second her hand pulled out the key, Dillon took a step back. Ziggy didn't think when he snapped out his hand to grasp Dillon's, effectively freezing him where he stood. "This isn't possible." Dillon said again. The panic was fading into something almost lost. No more shield, no more guarded eyes. A Dillon that was almost human and trusting him with everything.

"Why not?" he asked again. Dillon had no answer.

They didn't go back to the Garage. Instead, Tenaya called K and asked for a long night away. Obviously hearing something in Tenaya's voice even he couldn't, the young doctor granted it. So the three turned and headed for the building behind them, ascending to the floor where he had spent last night. It had obviously been cleaned up but there were still pillows everywhere and it was easy to lie down and curl up against Dillon's chest. The older man kept one arm draped across his waist at all times, even as he talked to Tenaya.

Over time, Dillon slowly calmed down enough to agree that it was possible Ziggy was right and Tenaya was his sister. As the night wore on, he even seemed to enjoy the idea of family. However, it wasn't until Tenaya made a strangled noise in the back that he turned to look at her. The young woman was staring at them with a tense expression. "I just realized, I know more about my brother's sex life than I'd ever hoped to." She said, sounding choked.

Ziggy ignored the resulting conversation, shifting back to his original position against Dillon's chest. Slowly, he started to fall asleep there, warm and content. Eventually the conversation between the two siblings petered off. "So, does this mean you're on our side now?" Ziggy asked into the silence, half -asleep, nuzzling against Dillon's neck. The room went tense for a long moment before Dillon sighed into his hair.

"I haven't been on Venjix's side for a while. Not since I challenged him about hurting you near Kenmore. Guess officially being on your side can't be all that bad." He said. Ziggy hid his smile in Dillon's neck, placing a quick kiss there.

"Can I keep you?" Dillon asked in a whisper into his curls.

"You already have me."

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